Shopping online is convenient and saves money on gas and maintenance on the car, and you can go to hundreds of different stores all from the comfort of your home. According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, consumers should be as vigilant in protecting their personal information online as they are when shopping in a retail store. There are tips that protect from online hackers and credit card identity theft that all consumers should follow.
Use Secure Websites
According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, you can protect yourself from identity theft by using only secure websites. There are two ways that you can tell whether a retail website is secure. The first way is to see whether the address in the address bar starts with "https://" or "shttp://" instead of just "http://". The "s" indicates that the website has a security encryption certificate on it that protects you from hackers. The second way to tell is that, if you are using Internet Explorer, a secure website will show a closed padlock icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.
Avoid Peak Times
Cybercriminals are most active during the traditional peak buying times of the year, according to CreditCards.com. The week prior to and the week after Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve are popular holiday shopping days that will find hackers looking to steal your online information. To avoid the spike in criminal activity, avoid doing your purchasing during traditionally busy shopping times.
Phishing
Phishing is the criminal activity involving spam emails used to steal your personal credit card information, according to MSN Money. If you receive an email that appears to be from your credit card company asking you to click on a link to validate your login information, you should not click on that link. Log in to your credit card company's website directly through its login page, and check for any messages or alerts from the company that would indicate you need to validate information. If you do not see any messages, then follow the instructions on the website to report the email as an attempt at identity theft.
Use One Card
Because of the ability to dispute charges that are suspicious, the safest way to shop online is by using a credit card, according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. However, in order to protect yourself, you should get one credit card to use for online purchases and not use any of your other cards online. This will protect your other accounts and allow you to better manage your one card in case any suspicious charges should appear.
0 comments:
Post a Comment